Kearney impresses, but Ireland run out of steam

Saturday 14 June 2008 19.01 EDT
First published on Saturday 14 June 2008 19.01 EDT

IT'S QUITE possible the last sequence of Ireland's season was the longest. Half way through it, as the phases built on and on, the hooter at a far-from-full Telstra Dome sounded - and still they managed to keep the ball alive. It ended after 18 phases, with the ball spilled forward and players from both sides collapsed in a heap: the Aussies because they had tackled themselves to a standstill; Ireland because their tackling had started 12 months ago and they were knackered.

This will be recorded as one Ireland left behind them, for they had comfortably more possession and enough chances in the second half to seal what would have been only their third win in this country. The miracle was that they were so close given their line-out collapsed in the second half. It's very, very hard to win Test matches when you are prevented from getting the ball back on your terms when it goes out of play. But maybe the problems at this phase were related to the fatigue that was so evident in the side. It was bravery that kept them upright so long.

The home side had the motivation of wanting to impress their new coach. Ireland hoped they might catch the latest version of the Wallabies cold. Robbie Deans will be happy enough with what he saw and should be delighted with the quality of his team's defence in that endgame. It was testament to their organisation that they got through it without springing a leak.

It capped a fast and entertaining game. The Wallabies successfully blooded two new starters, Peter Hynes and Luke Burgess, and brought another, Dean Mumm, off the bench. Ireland weren't in the business of introducing new faces; rather they were trying to go forward on the performance of a week ago, when they gave the All Blacks some hurry up.

Much was made during the week of presenting Ireland as a collection of bruisers who would wade into the Wallabies at every opportunity. Instead, they looked to shift the ball more often than not and, had they been able to get more directness into their game, they might have saved energy and picked up more points. Energy was a real issue.

The manner of James Horwill's try, on 21 minutes, told us something about the reserves of gas available to each side. It started with Ronan O'Gara leaving a clearance kick short and moved on to an explosive break by Hynes and an injection of pace at the base of the ruck by Burgess. Matt Giteau then did brilliantly to pass out of the tackle for Horwill to score.

In time, the combination of Burgess and Giteau will be the best in world rugby. When you have two players with that speed and adventure, that close to the breakdown, it's extremely hard to withstand. In contrast, O'Gara handled a lot of ball and passed well, but, too often, Ireland's attack slid across the field, whereas the Wallabies were more direct.

Yet Ireland had a heap of opportunities in the second half to make a breakthrough. They trailed 15-7 at half time, but, at that point, their line-out was still intact. It had yielded their only try of that period, when Donncha O'Callaghan delivered at the tail and Denis Leamy got the touchdown in a perfect drive.

That gave them the lead after Berrick Barnes had put the Wallabies ahead after six minutes. Just after Horwill's try, Ireland lost Shane Jennings with a rib injury and that fired Stephen Ferris into the fray. He had only joined the trip as a replacement for Alan Quinlan, but he coped well, despite being penalised on his first touch.

After the break Ireland put huge pressure on the Wallabies, despite falling further behind to a Giteau penalty when Leamy was lucky to avoid the sin bin for hopping in offside, five metres from his own line. At 18-7, it looked like it could get out of hand, but, with Rob Kearney in such blistering form, the tourists were always capable of doing something. The missed chances were clocking up, though: Paddy Wallace put the head down when he should have passed to replacement Eoin Reddan; Heaslip was called back from a run-in when Shane Horgan's pop-up pass was called forward; and Wallace couldn't control a pass from Brian O'Driscoll who had taken off down the wing after fielding a high ball.

However, the captain got his reward with a try on 62 minutes after a brilliant aerial take by Leamy. He looked shattered by the effort and was a passenger thereafter until replaced by Girvan Dempsey. They were all shattered, which perhaps made them force a few passes because they hadn't the energy to take the safer route. Yet again they leave this part of the world empty-handed. A familiar feeling that.